# Welcome email series: what to send new subscribers, and when > A welcome email series is a short run of three or four emails sent to new subscribers in their first one to two weeks: deliver what the sign-up form promised, introduce the brand, help people choose a first product, and remind them of any welcome offer before it expires. Canonical: https://tellnod.com/guides/welcome-email-series Last updated: 2026-10-22 Author: Tellnod team ## What a welcome email series is for Someone who has just joined your list knows the least about you and is paying the most attention. A welcome series uses that window to turn a sign-up into a first order, and to set expectations for every email that follows: what you send, how often, and why it is worth opening. It is a [lifecycle email](https://tellnod.com/glossary#lifecycle-email) sequence, so each message has one job. A good series does four things in order: 1. Delivers what the sign-up form promised, such as a discount code or a size guide, right away. 2. Explains who you are and what makes your products different. 3. Removes the reasons people hesitate before a first purchase: fit, quality, delivery and returns. 4. Gives a clear, honest reason to order now, such as an offer that is about to expire. A series is different from a one-off welcome email. One email can deliver the code; a series has room to answer the questions that stop people from using it. ## A four-email welcome series for an apparel shop Here is an outline for Ninefold, a small apparel brand that sells knitwear, outerwear and basics. Swap the content for your own products; the structure works for most online stores. | Email | When | Job | Main content | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1. Welcome and offer | Immediately after sign-up | Deliver the promise | The welcome code, how long it lasts, and one sentence about the brand | | 2. Brand story | Day 2 | Build trust | Why Ninefold exists, where the wool comes from, how the knitwear is made | | 3. Bestsellers and fit guide | Day 4 or 5 | Help them choose | Three core pieces, a fit guide, delivery and returns in plain words | | 4. Offer reminder | Day 7 to 10 | Ask for the order | The code, its real expiry date, and the pieces from email 3 | ### Email 1: welcome and offer Put the code or download near the top, not under three paragraphs of brand copy. Add one line on what subscribers can expect (“new pieces and restocks, about once a week”) and a single button to the shop. ### Email 2: brand story Tell people why you started and what you do differently, with specifics. For Ninefold that might be a short note from the founder, a photo of the knitting mill and a sentence on how long a sweater takes to make. Specific details are more convincing than adjectives. ### Email 3: bestsellers and fit guide Clothing shoppers hesitate over size. Show three pieces new customers usually start with, link the fit guide, and state your delivery times and return policy plainly. If you have customer reviews or photos you have permission to use, this is the place for them. If you are new and have none yet, do not write any: show care instructions, fabric close-ups or how a garment fits on two different body types instead. ### Email 4: offer reminder Remind people of the code and when it ends. Only say it expires if it really does. Keep the email short and link the same pieces from email 3, since subscribers who looked at them once are the likeliest to buy. > If you did not offer a code at sign-up, email 4 can feature [new arrivals](https://tellnod.com/templates/new-arrival) instead. A welcome series works without a discount; it just needs a clear next step. ## When to send each welcome email Send email 1 within minutes. A subscriber who signs up for a code expects it straight away, and a delay of a day means many will already have forgotten your shop. Space the remaining emails two to three days apart so the series ends inside two weeks, while the sign-up is still fresh. - **Stop the series when someone orders.** A customer who has already bought should get a thank-you, not a reminder to use a code. Move them to a [first-order thank-you](https://tellnod.com/templates/thank-you-first-order) email instead. - **Keep regular campaigns out of the way.** If a new subscriber gets the series and your weekly newsletter on the same day, the series message is the one to keep. - **Send at a time your customers read email.** If you already send campaigns, use the hours when your past emails got the most clicks. ## Subject line examples you can adapt Subject lines in a welcome series can be plain and specific. People are expecting these emails, so clarity beats cleverness. Pair each one with a [preheader](https://tellnod.com/glossary#preheader) that adds a detail rather than repeating it. | Email | Subject line | Preheader | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Your welcome code is inside | 10% off your first order, valid for 7 days | | 2 | Why we make fewer, better sweaters | A short note from the people behind Ninefold | | 3 | Not sure about your size? Start here | Our fit guide, plus the three pieces most people start with | | 4 | Your code ends on Sunday | Use it on knitwear, outerwear or basics before midnight | Check length and wording with the [subject line checker](https://tellnod.com/tools/subject-line-checker) before you send. ## Consent and compliance in welcome emails A welcome series goes to people who just opted in, so it is also where list quality is decided. Google’s sender guidelines ask senders to make sure recipients opt in and to confirm each address before subscribing it [S1]; a [double opt-in](https://tellnod.com/glossary#double-opt-in) confirmation does both. Keep a [consent record](https://tellnod.com/glossary#consent-record) of when and where each person signed up. Welcome emails that promote products are commercial messages. In the US, CAN-SPAM requires a working opt-out, a valid physical postal address in each message, and opt-out requests honored within 10 business days [S2]. Every email in the series needs the same footer as your campaigns. See [CAN-SPAM](https://tellnod.com/glossary#can-spam) and check your footer with the [email footer checker](https://tellnod.com/tools/email-footer-checker). ## What to measure Judge the series by orders, not opens. Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection downloads remote content in the background, regardless of whether the person engages with the email [S3], so open rates for Apple Mail users are inflated and cannot tell you who read a message. | Metric | What it tells you | | --- | --- | | First orders from the series | Whether the series does its main job; compare with subscribers who did not get it, if you can | | Click-through rate per email | Which message gets people to the shop, and which one to rewrite | | Code redemptions | Whether the offer itself is attractive, separate from the emails | | Unsubscribes per email | Whether a message, or the pace of the series, is too much | | Spam complaints | Whether people remember signing up; Google asks bulk senders to stay below 0.3% and recommends below 0.1% [S1] | Read more on [click-through rate](https://tellnod.com/glossary#click-through-rate), [conversion rate](https://tellnod.com/glossary#conversion-rate) and [revenue per recipient](https://tellnod.com/glossary#revenue-per-recipient), and on what to do with the numbers in [get more orders from email](https://tellnod.com/guides/get-more-orders-from-email). ## How to send a welcome series with Tellnod today Tellnod is an [MCP connector](https://tellnod.com/glossary#mcp-connector) for writing, previewing and sending marketing email inside Claude or ChatGPT. Automated flows, including a welcome series that sends on its own after each sign-up, are planned and not available yet. See [email marketing automation](https://tellnod.com/email-marketing-automation) for what is automated today. Until flows arrive, you can run the same series as a weekly routine: once a week, send a welcome campaign to everyone who joined in the last 7 days. It is one conversation in Claude or ChatGPT: 1. “Draft a welcome email for Ninefold subscribers who joined in the last 7 days. Lead with the 10% code, then one paragraph on how our knitwear is made.” 2. Tellnod shows the email on desktop and mobile, with the recipient count. Ask for changes in plain words, such as “Shorten the intro and add our fit guide link”. 3. “Send me a test.” Check it on your phone. 4. Review the [approval card](https://tellnod.com/glossary#approval-card): audience, exclusions and send time. The campaign is scheduled only when you press Confirm; the assistant cannot press it for you. Unsubscribed and bounced contacts are excluded for you, and the compliance footer is added to every email. To follow up later in the week, ask for the [new arrival](https://tellnod.com/templates/new-arrival) template for the same group, or the [first-order thank-you](https://tellnod.com/templates/thank-you-first-order) for those who bought. Tellnod is free up to 500 contacts and 2,000 emails a month; see [pricing](https://tellnod.com/pricing), or [connect Tellnod](https://tellnod.com/connect) to try it. ## FAQ ### How many emails should a welcome series have? Three or four is enough for most online stores: deliver the promise, introduce the brand, help people choose, and remind them of the offer. Add more only if each one has a distinct job. ### How long should a welcome email series last? About one to two weeks. Send the opening email within minutes of sign-up and space the rest two to three days apart, then stop the series as soon as someone places an order. ### Do I need a discount in my welcome email? No. A discount is common because it gives a clear reason to order, but a fit guide, free returns or a strong product story can do the same job. If you promise a code on the sign-up form, deliver it in the opening email. ### What is the difference between a welcome email and a welcome series? A welcome email is one message sent after sign-up. A welcome series is a planned sequence of several emails over the following days, with room to build trust and answer the questions that stop a first order. ## Sources - [S1] Gmail Help: Email sender guidelines: (checked 2026-10-22) - [S2] FTC: CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business: (checked 2026-10-22) - [S3] Apple: Mail Privacy Protection and privacy: (checked 2026-10-22)